As a father of two toddlers, I’m challenged to find quality writing time. I move from work to daycare, from bath time to bed time. The stories inside me simmer; I thumb-type snippets on my phone while attending my daughter’s dance class, but I miss her new twirl, and the scene crumbles when my 11 month-old son waddles up behind me, grabs my leg hairs and says, “Baba!”

I used to write late at night or early in the morning, but I’ve exhausted the reserves of energy needed for those writing sessions, depleted by the demands of managing their childhood. Actually I don’t even manage it, my wife does that. I’m more an assistant coach, or even a coach’s assistant. I find it exhausting. How did Dickens raise ten children and produce so much content ?According to this book, it appears the children suffered for it. Is it possible to provide for a quality childhood, and keep writing?